There is an increasing complexity of systems or circuits consisting of analogue and digital hardware and embedded software. The physical environment has to be taken into consideration during the verification and validation phase of the systems. However, verification is not only involved for the nominal behavior. The behavior also has to be checked in case of faulty components. This ensures that not only the fulfilment of functional requirements is inspected but also the fulfilment of safety requirements. Verification tools and methods have to support the design of functional correct, robust, and safe systems. Especially, the automotive industry expects solutions that are in compliance with the ISO 26262 functional safety standard.
A simulation approach based on SystemC/SystemC AMS—SystemC is a set of C++ classes and macros providing an event-driven simulation interface while Analog Mixed Signal (AMS) is an extension of SystemC—is a possibility to validate the nominal behavior. It guarantees a high simulation speed while maintaining appropriate accuracy. Software development aspects can be included into the design and verification process. The approach also closes the bridge to Hardware-in-the-Loop (HiL) simulation and, therefore, to the lab validation.
So far little effort was spent in the improvement of the consideration of failure aspects and appropriate methods to model failure behavior.